The game was developed by SNK, originating in the arcades. It's a top-down vertically-scrolling run 'n' gun, and the first in a trilogy. In addition to the Ikari trio, SNK would go on to develop other games that play in a similar manner such as Guerrilla War, Search & Rescue, and the two Shock Troopers titles.

So Ikari Warriors isn't particularly fun. The graphics and scenery are vague and lifeless. Our hero (some Rambo-esque commando dude, of course) moves at a snail's pace. Released in '86, Ikari finds itself sandwiched between two similar and vastly superior shooters: Capcom's Commando and Data East's Heavy Barrel.

Here's the thing. When I made my Summer Games Challenge list I didn't yet own a copy of Ikari Warriors. The most "obvious" version to play would be the world-famous NES port that made us all suffer as children. You know, the port that requires a cheat code (ABBA) just to continue. The port that makes it possible to get stuck in walls. I'll pass. Instead I decided to seek out that "other" 8-bit console variation: Ikari Warriors for the Atari 7800. Until I saw the eBay prices. $60?! $100?! Is this a joke?

Enough of these ports, I declared! Let's just do it arcade style! As an amateur video game "collector" I tend to eschew emulators like MAME in favor of something more tangible. Fortunately, SNK released a compilation of pre-Neo Geo arcade games a few years ago - it's called SNK Arcade Classics 0 and is available on PSP. Unfortunately, it was only released in Japan and South Korea. I ordered a Korean copy and then waited a few weeks until it arrived (with a pack of sunflower seeds!).

And it sucks. Well, that's not true. The bulk of the compilation rules - with the exception of Ikari Warriors. One would think an emulated version of the arcade game would be ideal, but there are two major flaws here. First, the controls are awful. The original arcade game uses a rotary joystick, so it's possible to move and shoot in different directions. Here on the PSP, the d-pad is used to move and the L and R buttons are used to rotate the gun clockwise/counterclockwise. It's slow and awkward as hell. There is an option to use "traditional" controls instead (move and shoot in the same direction) but this also doesn't pan out. The game wasn't designed for that type of control scheme, and it just makes things even more immeasurably difficult. But I've just scratched the surface. The biggest drawback here is the fact that you can't continue. I have no idea why - continues weren't removed from any other game on the compilation. And it feels glitchy: the continue screen actually pops up for a nanosecond and then the game "crashes" to the title screen. Sigh.

So I moved on. To the Commodore 64. Oh boy. This one doesn't look bad. Almost on par with the NES game graphics-wise. However, once again the controls kill it. The C64 uses a one-button joystick, but this game requires two action buttons: one for the gun and one for grenades. And grenades are used frequently - you start with 50 of them and some enemies can't be damaged by gunfire. The C64 controls? The joystick button fires and the space bar launches grenades. Good luck. Wanna know how far I got? Level 1.

Well now I'm in a bit of a pickle. I'm running out of ports here. Hmmmmm, let's see, what else is there..... DOS? I can't imagine that's much better than the Commodore 64. Apple II and Atari ST? Haven't laid eyes on either of those computers in decades. MSX2, Commodore 16, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum? Do I live in Japan or Europe? No, I do not.

That leaves one more....... I logged onto eBay, found a copy for a "reasonable" price, closed by eyes, said a few prayers, and then clicked Buy It Now. Three days later I open my mailbox to find this.....Yes, that's right, Ikari Warriors on the Atari 2600. Or, if you wanna be cool, ATARI IKARI.

Oh, and why in the hell did I get a sealed copy? That's all I could find on eBay. The world is conspiring against me.

This game was released in 1990. 13 years after the Atari 2600 launched. A couple of years after the PC Engine and Mega Drive hit the scene. The same year the initial Super Famicom and Neo Geo carts were produced. That is both awesome and terrifying.

So Atari Ikari is...... oddly playable. And not particularly difficult as the console will only allow a couple of enemies on the screen at a time. Controls are identical to Atari Commando - tap the joystick button to shoot and hold it to toss a grenade. It's a bit wonky and makes it impossible to lob a grenade without firing a few regular shots first. Thankfully ammo refills are plentiful.

On occasion you'll have the opportunity to hop into a tank. The tanks are a mixed bag. Every shot they fire "counts" as a grenade but they can't shoot diagonally. You also become a larger target and still die in one hit. Oh and they run out of gas, another instant death. You know what? Eff the tanks. The best thing about them is that they (oddly) refill your ammo once you exit. I guess each one contains an ammo cache. Oh, and exiting a tank voluntarily is done by mashing buttons apparently. Just like real life.

The game is beaten when the colonel is rescued. This man is clearly a giant, so I have no idea how he got captured in the first place. The screen flashes the standard "Atari lightshow" and then the game loops. Of course it does. But not for me. I've shut it off. That's enough Ikari Warriors for one lifetime.

Now where did I put my Ys games?

Last edited by BoneSnapDeez on Tue May 26, 2015 11:23 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Bleh, haven't made much progress since I've been sick for the last 2-ish weeks :/ Even when I have been playing Super Mario Bros 2, I only got to World 2 after ~ 1 hr.

Of course, now that I'm not sick I can't continue with it unless I want to emulate and start over... I was playing it on the Wii U but I won't have access to it until August. So I need to find another game to play.

I guess I could play Silent Hill? That's the only game I have that's a classic and I don't have to emulate... But god I have so much trouble with the controls in that game ><; I'll have to think about it I guess...

noiseredux wrote:I'm slightly worried that Willy Beamish might suck. I got a game over after pretty much the first choice I was given to make. Huh.

Outrun Coast 2 Coast seems awesome. I'm not sure how to beat it though. There's a bunch of different modes.

Mostly concentrating on Call Of Duty first though. Great game.

The game takes some getting used to, as certain things differ from conventional adventure games. Save often and make numerous saves. You can make mistakes that are irreversible and don't take affect until much later in the game, which is a huge problem for the game.

noiseredux wrote:I'm slightly worried that Willy Beamish might suck. I got a game over after pretty much the first choice I was given to make.

It's from a very different design era and it shows. That's why I recommended playing it with a guide. The joy in this game comes from seeing the wacky story unfold and the awesome animation and background artwork. Honestly it's a better cartoon show than a game.

In my last post, I was most of the way through Deck 5, and Deck 6 was incredibly short in comparison despite all of the backtracking it required. I have now left the Von Braun and am on board the UNN Rickenbacker. SHODAN wants me to destroy black eggs that the Annelids have created as some kind of new weapon. SHODAN has also declared me her avatar, but I have found a message claiming she is working on some kind of faster-than-light drive engine. So far so good, I'm still using the wrench as my primary weapon, but I switch out to my guns when I need them. My pistol is now regularly loaded with rounds for robots, while I use the assault rifle and standard ammunition for destroying security cameras. The shotgun shreds the spiders, and the grenade launcher is now powerful enough to waste just about everything in a single hit. I've established tactics for everything I fight, and for the most part I'm doing well. Only the spiders frustrate me, because toxin seems so overpowered.

So far, so good. Even though I'm outnumbered and they're throwing hordes against me, I've got the Annelids on the run. As usual in a horror game, I find I'm the scariest bastard around. All of my enemies are trapped on this ship with me.

Nope, but I have a few surprises for those guys when they finally try it. Single rumblers go down easy enough with a couple grenades at this point, and I have yet to test how well incendiary grenades work on them.

Uhhhh....I am sorry to hear that the SNK Classics version of this game is so bad. It looks like I will be playing this one on MAME after all (when I put it on my summer gaming challenge list next year...or swap it in for something on this year's list).

.....

Also, I thought that the difficulty had spike up in Shining Force II. I was wrong. The game does not give you much direction, and I simply skipped ahead a few battles. Now, my characters are radically over-powered. It is a fun game, however, and I am enjoying it.

Uhhhh....I am sorry to hear that the SNK Classics version of this game is so bad. It looks like I will be playing this one on MAME after all (when I put it on my summer gaming challenge list next year...or swap it in for something on this year's list).

Another weird quirk is that you can't see your initials when you input a high score unless you change the screen configuration to "vertical" mode..... Of course the game is nigh unplayable this way.

I'd still recommend that compilation though. It contains games that never received console ports like Marvin's Maze, Psycho Soldier, Sasuke vs. Commander, Search & Rescue, and a few others...

The Korean version can be found for cheaper than the Japanese one. And from what I can tell it's identical (all game/menu text is still in Japanese, it's just the instructions and text on the box art that have been changed to Korean).